Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Believes Oscar Robertson Is the Best NBA Player of All Time

Usually, when people talk about the best NBA player of all time, the name Michael Jordan is mentioned. However, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar isn't in the majority on that one. While on ESPN’s Colin Cowherd radio show, the topic of greatest to ever play the game came up and Abdul-Jabbar went in a completely different yet plausible direction.

“LeBron is awesome, MJ was awesome — but I think Oscar Robinson would have kicked them both in the behind,” said Abdul-Jabbar when asked about James and Jordan. “Absolutely. Oscar was awesome. He had brains. [...] He had all the skills.

“He could rebound and box out guys four and six inches taller than him. He was ruggedly built. He had fluid, quickness, and just understood the game. No flair, he just got the job done every night. Who’s going to average double figures in points, assists and rebounds?”

In what could arguably be seen as his best statistical year, Robertson averaged 31.4 points, 11 assists and 9.9 rebounds per game in the 1963-64 season. While Jordan did eclipse Oscar's career-high in points per game (31.4) plenty of times, MJ never averaged a double-double for a season, which adds to Kareem's argument. But, at the end of the day, the debate always seems to end up comparing championships and that's where Mike has Robertson beat, 6-1. So, case closed?